The bulk of consumer durables, eg domestic goods and motor vehicles, and also office equipment and factory equipment, are supplied on the basis of some form of deferred payment plan. The type of agreement varies from country to country but broadly stated the equipment may be rented to the user, may be supplied on lease, or may be sold in terms of an agreement which provides that payment shall be made in instalments over a period of time. The most important feature of all these agreements is that the purchaser or user of the goods undertakes to make regular payments. Often these are made to a bank or other financial institution rather than to the supplier.
It is common practice to allocate a serial number to almost all equipment which is supplied to domestic users, to offices and to factories. The purpose of the serial number is to enable that piece of equipment to be identified and, perhaps of more importance, to be distinguished from other equipment of the same type, which other equipment, apart from the serial number, is identical and hence indistinguishable.
The type of domestic goods involved are, by way of example, television sets, video recorders, microwave ovens, refrigerators, electric ovens, deepfreezes, dish washing machines, clothes washing machines and tumble dryers. Office machinery includes photocopiers, fax machines, printers, and computing equipment. Factor equipment includes looms, sewing machines, forklift trucks, printing presses etc. All these goods have in common the fact that they are electrically powered and incorporate an electronic control system.
It is obviously the intention of the manufacturer that the serial number of a piece of equipment should remain the same throughout its life. This is important when a service contract has been provided. It is not unknown for serial numbers to be moved from one piece of equipment to another, or for casings to be changed. The purpose of this can be, for example, to obtain service on equipment that is not covered by a service contract, or to obtain service on two or more pieces of equipment whilst paying for only one service contract.
Motor vehicles are supplied both to domestic users and to commerce and industry. These again are almost invariably supplied in terms of an agreement which provides for payment over a period of time. Clearly the prime source of power in a motor vehicle is not electrical but without its electronic system a modern motor vehicle cannot run.
In the event that the payment schedule is not maintained the bank or other financial institution must institute legal proceedings to retrieve the equipment. This can take a number of months even if the action is entirely undefended. The defaulting party then, without payment, has the use of the equipment for a number of months before it is repossessed.
In most agreements of this nature the piece of equipment is identified by its serial number. To the financial institution, therefore, the serial number is of paramount importance. The ability to change the serial number of a piece of equipment makes it possible to perpetrate many types of fraud. For example, if a serial number is moved from a new piece of equipment which is the subject of a financial agreement to an old piece, and it is the old equipment which is seized by the financial institution because payments are not made, then the institution has been defrauded. Most frauds of this type can be prevented if it is impossible to tamper with the serial number of the piece Of equipment.
Another area of technology where a serial number can assume considerable importance is that of security generally and access control of personnel in particular. Doors operated by coded cards are in everyday use. The reader fitted to the door checks the validity of the card by comparing the information on the card with the information which has been stored in the card reader. Only if the card carries the correct information will the door open. Many doors have their card readers attached after they have been installed and the readers can easily be removed and transferred to other doors. Advantages, as discussed hereinafter, arise where the access door is allocated a unique serial number and can therefore be distinguished electronically from all other doors of the same type.
Where equipment is the subject of a maintenance plan, it is important to the supplier of the equipment that the equipment receive whatever regular services are specified. If such services are carried out the risk of equipment breakdowns and resultant damage, which the supplier must repair at its cost, is minimised. The serial number of the equipment can, in accordance with the present invention, be used to force the user of the equipment to undertake regular servicing.
In summary, serial numbers play an important role in commerce and industry as evidenced by the fact that few, if any, pieces of equipment that include electronics, do not have a serial number.